Canada’s population is aging. The Alzheimer Society of Canada estimates that by 2050, over 1.4 million Canadians will be living with dementia, almost triple the 2020 level. Right now, eldercare facilities for people with complex needs tend to feel like hospitals or even jails. Elroy Jespersen doesn’t think it should be that way. Inspired by a community in the Netherlands, he convinced Verve, the long-term care company he worked for, to buy a few unused schools in Langley, B.C., and convert the site into an attractive community for people with dementia.
Now called the Village Langley, it has room for 75 residents, with access to nature, a general store, a woodworking shop and a beauty salon. It’s privately run and costs between $8,000 and $10,000 per month, making it out of reach for most people, but Jespersen hopes its success will be a model for publicly funded care facilities in Canada. “Too often, dementia patients are treated as a collection of needs and symptoms to manage,” says Jespersen, “rather than real people with unique life stories, preferences and habits.”
—Sarah Fulford, editor-in-chief